Sunday Quilt Inspiration: RVs

Richard has been bing-watching RV shows. The last one is about luxury RVs in the 3-400,000 dollar range. Not something we are the least interested in for ourselves, but it's fun to see what is out there in the world of big-spenders. Of course, this got me thinking of quilts with campers and RVs. And guess what? Yes, of course, there are a few. 

Sunday Quilt Inspiration: C A M P I N G

Marly and a friend had a campout. Let me rephrase that: Marley, a friend, Jenny and Adam had a campout. The girls are seven; they are not brave enough to sleep anywhere away from at least one adult. They also have not gotten to that age when a child wants to sleep anywhere so long as they are away from all adults. 



They asked to sleep in our camper, to which Richard agreed. Interestingly, they ate supper in the house, packed clothes then took baths in the house, and went out to the camper well past their bedtimes. Begging Adam to come sleep in the camper because "momma can't protect us from the big monsters." I suppose she can handle the little monsters. 

I began wondering whether I could find any camping-themed quilts on Pinterest. It turns out that it's not difficult at all. Take a look!

What are your thoughts on camping? 
#fleurdelisquiltsonpinterest

Camper Rug ~~ Finished! and a tutorial

A week or so ago I wrote about trying to use up some of the many scraps that have been building up (click here).  I've been working on a scrap quilt and a rag rug for our camper.

 For the rag rug, I decided to use some of the cheap, thin poly-cotton that I've had in the stash for some time, years and years, decades. Most of it is in a separate pile, which makes it easy to pull and cut.



CUT: This is an easy project for anyone who wants to get rid of lots of scraps or cheap fabric. I didn't really measure as I cut: I just stacked several layers, eyeballed (an inch or less) and cut. If everything was straight, great; if not, it doesn't matter--it's for a rag rug!

TWIST / BRAID: There are a couple of ways to approach the next step. I chose to twist the strips but it's possible to braid them instead. (It's just like braiding hair with either three or four strips at a time.) My strips are long and braiding would mean handling those long strips which tend to catch and tangle with each other. Twisting just seemed easier.

TWIST: Begin with two strips, preferrably of different lengths. Match and tie the ends together (#1 in the collage below). Twist one of the strips until tightly twisted (#2 white strip). Hold the two ends and pull the strip tightly to help set the twist (it's a little like pressing the fabric). I use a Clover clip and to clip the twisted end. That keeps the twist from falling apart when I let go of the strip to work with the other strip.

Move to the second strip and tightly twist in the same direction as the first (#3 black strip) following all the steps that you did for the first strip. Now you'll have two twisted strips wanting to curl and tangle. Pull them again and rotate the two strips around each other in the opposite direction (#4). I rotate the shorter strip around the longer one. Twisting in one direction and rotating in the opposite direction allows the rope fabrics to lock together as they loosen. The more times you rotate the rope, the tighter it will be.

CONTINUING: What to do when you get to the end of your rope? Simple: add another strip. Again you have choices: sew the strips together, tie them together, or twist the new strip into the previous one. I use all three, but definitely twisting another strip to the old one is my preferred method: overlap at least an inch of the new strip on the old strip, fold them together, and twist tightly. 

TEST / REPAIR: There have been times when the twisted strips didn't grip each other and came loose when I pulled on the rope to test it. That is ridiculously heartbreaking, but it happens. If the fabrics are unraveling, I tie them together. If the fabrics are still in pretty good shape, I stitch them together with a needle and thread that I keep close at hand. I try not to cut the ends off because the strips will then be too short to repair easily. Of course, you could always just trim off whatever is ravelled and start over. 

STORAGE: I've found that the rope is easier to handle if I roll it on a recycled spool. You can use the cardboard core from papertowels or giftwrap. Any cylindrical or rectangular shape will work for storage. I've used a Pringles can and a milk carton, for example. 

SEW: For the rug, I just zigzagged the rope in an oval shape using the Bernina. It is really easy once you get into a rythym: squeeze the rope pieces together and zigzag making sure you catch from one rope to the other. I made an oval shaped rug, but a round rug would likely be just as easy. When I got to the end of the rug, I tucked the rope ends in and made certain to add a few extra stitches to hold them there.

The rug needs to be blocked since it is not lying flat It may also shrink when I wash it, but I have lots of rope to add to the rug, if necessary. 

What would you make with your rope? 

Linking up with

Amanda Jean at Crazy Mom Quilts

How a Quilter Travels

I am almost ready to go camping. Or maybe vacationing. Or maybe just have a staycation in the camper!  lol  It doesn't matter to me where the camper spends the night. If I'm in it, I can get some quilting done.

First, I made several quilt kits.  I thought I needed to hurry, so I put these together quickly, but they'll make some nice quilts. Because I don't know when I'll get to any of the kits, I wrote some notes to remember my original plan.  I'm likely going to forget what my intentions were and mix things up. Now, that's okay, but the problem would be that I wouldn't end up with the quilts I need.  In some cases I even included a cone (or two) of thread. 

Here are the four quilt kits: two pink baby quilts (at the top) one in a tumbler design, which I cut on my Accuquilt Studio cutter; the second one is a simple rectangle block. I cut 5" squares (finished) and then cut those in half. My plan is to mix up the squares for a fun, easy baby quilt. The tumbler will be a bit different because I cut half of the squares in a solid light pink that I bought after Mother's Day. I plan to alternate the solids and prints. 

The peach quilt on the lower left uses a new design that I created last week. I want to write a pattern for it and need to sew up a second quilt to make sure I don't miss any steps. I think it uses scraps and a Kona off-white.

The last one is a Drunkard's Path quilt using Kona cream (maybe?) and scraps. Some of the fabrics will appear in all four quilts, but once they were out and pressed, I hated putting them away and starting over again. Besides, the pinks worked. I may be sorry later and get sick of those pinks!

I couldn't take the idea of leaving behind the Quilty 365 blocks. You never know when the iron is hot! I may have a minute and an idea. 

And if I'm going to bring the circles, I need to bring the plaids. 

And always, some solids. So now that all of this is in the camper, I just have two things left...the Bernina and the container of tools (scissors, pincushion of pins, needles, thread, snips, bobbins, etc.) I've been using those, so they will stay in the studio until I know the camper is pulling out. Luckily I have the best husband, who will stop at a quilt shop for a thimble. So I don't fret about forgetting anything, but it is easier to have the things than to find a shop. 

Happy Quilting,

Hey! Welcome back!

I know, it's been forever.  My apologies again for not posting for the last two weeks. 

Who knew that vacation would be such a whirlwind of activity and take me to places with NO internet access? Does the whole state of New York not have internet? I doubt it, but at no time did I have access.  Oh, I had the computer, but with no wi-fi, I'm hopeless.  

But that's all behind us, now.  And boy do I have some fun things to tell you about!  Big surprises, too!  Come back for the next few days: I will (as promised) try to catch up some of the posts that I've missed.  Tomorrow's post will be Sunday Quilt Inspiration.  Monday we'll have a Modern Monday post. Then on Tuesday I'll tell you about Niagara Falls.  

After that I'll write about the many other things that we did and saw.  Not that I want anyone to think I'm bragging....really, I'm not.  I just had a wonderful time and want to share some of the awesomely beautiful things we did and saw.